Stop Windows 10 From Asking For Admin Rights To Run Unknown Apps

Windows has always featured a filter for apps that you install duly warning you whenever you were about to install an app from an unknown developer. That feature has duly carried through to Windows 10 where by default, you need admin rights to run an unrecognized app from the internet. If the option is bothering you and you feel you don’t need it, there’s a simple way to turn it off from the Control Panel desktop app. Here’s how.

Open the Control Panel. The quickest way to do it if you haven’t customized Windows 10 much after upgrading is to simply type Control Panel in the new search bar and launch the desktop app. Go to the System and Security group of settings, click Security & Maintenance and expand the options under Security.

Scroll down until you see the Windows SmartScreen section. Click ‘Change settings’ under it. You will need admin rights to make these changes.

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By default, it is set to asking for administrator approval when running unrecognized apps. You can set it to simply warn a user when running an unrecognized app but not require admin approval, or to turn this feature off altogether.

When changing these options, make sure you take into consideration any guest accounts that are running on the system as well as any parental controls you might have applied. It may not be dangerous if you yourself are allowing all apps to run but anyone who uses the same system and doesn’t know any better might put the system at risk.